Today I'm Feeling...

My writing has felt very inadequate lately, which is why you haven't seen very many blog posts.  I've had a lot of important stuff going on, but I can't seem to find the words to write about them.  Also, our county is getting pretty strict about not talking about work online, so I can't write about the 40ish hours I spend at the school each week.  I so wish I could tell ya'll all about it.  Other than work, I've been biking, Netflix-ing, hanging with friends, and spending time at church. 

Anyways, my blog inadequacies come from reading all of the amazing blogs I follow.  Ya'll need to stop being so awesome so I can write some more.  ;]  Haha, just kidding you guys.

I'll finish this little post with some of my recent faves from weheartit:

[1, 2, 3]

Can you tell I'm missing summer?  Anybody else in the same boat?

Rocking in My School Shoes

Three days in and we're making it!  The first morning was stressful and a bit hectic, but that was expected.  Every day has gotten better than the one before.  We're learning about the kids and they're learning about us.  Also, we're learning about Pete the cat.  He's rocking in his school shoes.

If you don't have a "first day of school" book, I'd recommend this one.  We're spending all week on it and the kids love it.  Major props if you read it while wearing similar "school shoes."  :]

If you started back this week, I hope you're loving it so far!  And if you're still enjoying summer, please soak up some sun on my behalf!

Song of the Week

Well, I have a couple different songs I could pick from this week.  In keeping with my indecisive nature, I'll pick both.  :]

Artist: Coldplay
Every Teardrop is a Waterfall

I am SO excited for their next album, especially after listening to the songs on their EP.

Artist: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Home

This is such a great summer song.  I'm loving it during these last few days of vacation.

What is your favorite song this week?

My Thought Process Re: The First Day of School

Hey, everybody!

I'm super excited for the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL on Monday!

I mean, there will be some tough things, but I think it will be great...

Right?  I mean, nothing awful is gonna happen on the first day, right?!?

OH NO! What if something terrible is happens and I'm not prepared at all?!?

Wait...duh, Abby.  God is with you and he has everthing under control.  Whew.

YAY SCHOOL!

Finally!

Wahoo!  As of last Friday, I accepted a position to be a special ed parapro.  I'm super pumped to start off this school year and work with the five sweet kids in our class.  And in case you don't believe me, just look at my county issued ID for proof (badly edited so creeps can't come find me).  :]

I love my teeth!

Meet my co-counselor, JaMicheal.  ;]  This is the type of fun we have.

Two weeks of camp left!  Yikes!

Sneaky Games We Play at Camp

Time for some slightly sarcastic horn blowing: my co-counselor and I are the best EVER.  ;]

This summer we've had our fair share of interesting campers, to say the least.  Because of our large and sometimes unwieldy group, we spent a lot of time brainstorming games that would keep our kids entertained and (for our own benefit) a bit quieter.  I think our games are pretty awesome.  Here are just a few of the gems we've come up with:

Magic Trash
I actually played this when I was in the 4th grade.  The teacher (or camp counselor) picks out a piece of "magic" trash.  Then the kids pick up as much trash as they can, and show it to the teacher before they toss it.  At the end of the game (a.k.a. when all of the trash is picked up), the kid who picked up the magic trash is the winner of some prize.  At camp it's normally an "icey pop."

Dead Fish
This game has two winners: best swimmer and best dead fish.  When the counselor says swim, you move around the room like a fish.  Here's the kicker: fish can't talk!  See, we're very sneaky with our quiet games.  When the counselor says "dead fish," you drop to the floor as quickly as possible and act like a deceased fish.  Brilliant game if you ask me.  We had one kid who pretended to be those fish who latch onto sharks--genius.

Pretend to be Asleep
Very self-explanatory.  You'd be amazed at how long we can keep this game up.

Serious Face
All credit for this one goes to my co.  He comes up with these ridiculous stories and songs off the top of his head, so he decided to turn it into a game.  He pulls out his craziest song (and sometimes a dance, too!), and the kid who can keep a "serious face" the longest is the winner.  

So really, all of these games are tricks for getting the kids to sit quietly for a few minutes and give us a bit of a breather.  I don't want you to think that we do this all day; we spend our fair share of time playing TV Tag and Hide-and-Go-Peek (yes, peek, not seek).  These games just help us keep our sanity on those days that we feel like it's 110 degrees outside and our brains are slowly shutting down. 

Anybody have any "tricky" games they like to play with their campers/students/children/random street kids?  :]